Chickens Give Us Eggs..


In my never ending quest to get chickens of my own, we headed East - deeper into 'country' than we live. 

I had an alterior motive here - not just to see my lovely friend, but to take Lily to see her chickens.  Lily says she wants them, but for all I know, she could run screaming like a decapitated chicken if they came near here.  So, the test began.


Not a problem.


Fascination.


Wow, chickens really do give us eggs?!



Now that I knew I had myself a chicken girl, I moved on to the cherry tree.  It was pouring rain, but wow, how beautiful.


even through a wet lense.


Have a lovely weekend everyone. 

300 Raspberry Canes...


300 Raspberry Canes..Really!


What the hell was I thinking.
Ouch.

In My Garden Today...I Found Spring!

 

Amidst getting ready to plant 300 raspberry canes for Missing Goat Jam,


and doubling our strawberry beds for mass consumption by the Missing Goat family,


I noticed some quiet watchers in the yard.  They didn't say much, and if I didn't look close, I wouldn't have seem most of them at all.  But, there they were.  Watching, hoping to be seen.  I saw them. 


How could I not bring some of them inside.  It still gets frosty at night. 

Entirely From Scratch..Bread & Butter


Sorry for the post delay everyone.  I've had to shoot four homes in a week and a half.  It's been exhausting, but it's over now.
So, continuing on my journey of making food from scratch, I've been baking bread.  Have you ever looked at the ingredients list of bread..it's a bit shocking.  Homemade bread has four things - flour, yeast, water and salt.
My first attempt was..well, not great.  It was good bread, but nothing to brag about. 


I followed the steps, but something was missing.



We kneaded and kneaded till we were parched with thirst.
Yawn. 
Dull bread.


Failure makes me determined, so I hit the book store and brought this home.  A French bread maker, living in England, with his own technique of kneading and mixing the dough. Very different from our style of bread making in North America.  That is my loaf of bread on top of the book - isn't it pretty!


This is clearly something that takes practice.  But I'm hooked.  I love making bread and using my hands over the mixer and bread making machines. 
I went on a quest for fresh yeast - not easy to find!  But Whole Foods came through.

You can't expect me to place store bought butter on my homemade bread!  Yes, dammit, I made the butter too!
if you want the recipe please read on..

An Ode to Moss..


I love Moss. 
Some spend hours raking it out of their yard.  Some spend money on herbicides to prevent it.  A sin I say.
I love it. 


My yard is full of moss.


The ground is covered in it.
What better place to lay your picnic blanket than a bed of moss.


My trees wear moss like a winter accoutrement.





How can you not welcome these happy tufts into your yard?